Could 19th century authors Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau teach us how to manage our lives and communities in today’s confused world?

Author and scholar Jeffrey S. Cramer will address that question, Thursday, April 24, at the Concord Free Public Library.

Starting at 7:30 p.m. in the periodical reading room, he’ll discuss “A Healthy Community: A Transcendental Perspective’’ based on his knowledge of the regional writers who comprised New England’s most enduring literary movement.

Cramer said he’ll draw upon Emerson’s and Thoreau’s writings to “examine how the principles of Transcendentalism apply today toward building and sustaining healthy communities.’’

By cultivating mindfulness and confidence, he said people can take as a guiding principle Emerson’s words: “We will walk on our feet. We will work with our hands. We will speak our own minds.’’

The curator of collections at the Thoreau Institute at Walden Woods, Cramer has written or edited 10 books focusing on Emerson, Thoreau and poet Robert Frost.